How Do You Choose a Spiritual Teacher?

Many of our readers have written in, wanting more information on spiritual awakenings and their ownÂ personal, spiritual journeys. There are many books, countless philosophies and religions all looking to help people fill their spiritual void. So I was wondering – this question is to everyone reading – how do you go about choosing a spiritual teacher?

23 thoughts on “How Do You Choose a Spiritual Teacher?”

The best spritual teachers, I have had, I have always had visions of them prior to them coming into my life. I have one currently, that is upset because I have had a vision of another teacher and I know this teacher has great things to teach me. I saw this person in a vision and she looked exactly as my vision down to the clothing she was wearing. So, my teachers have come to me in a differnt way.

Great response! Yes, it is true that the Master choose the student. However, what I have also found is that if you remain open, everyone and everything in life is our teacher. It’s when we get in our own way that we block the opportunity to learn and grow spiritually through all life experiences. Many Blessings to all.
In Oneness. S

Once we ask from the heart, the Law of Attraction will guide us like a magnet, to the teacher who is also seeking us. It may come in many different guises, maybe a conversation overheard, maybe a book, a person met by chance or some amazing synchronised happening.

Most times its when we’re at our lowest point, when we just can’t go on with the same old same old, that we finally ask to be shown a better way. At the moment of commitment the Universe conspires to assist us! We just have to be willing to to allow it to work through us.

My vedic astrology says I am living a liberation lifetime, and a real guru would enter my life during a certain period of years.
I found out about the vedic astrology, after it all had happened.
I am sincere in this: I believe everyone is emerging into a higher state of being conscious.
Please don’t “invest” too much in a “teacher” or in a “guru”.
It is you, you are finding.

I agree with Dylan, you do not need a teacher, just be alive and aware of yourself, your feelings and intuitions. Read, with an open mind, all the philosophies that come your way but only take from them what is good for you. Remember all theories are written by people and are only a mirror of their honorable but humble conclusions. We all have to draw our own. None of us are identical neither are our lives. Guru says to me fanatic, and to me, a fanatic is no longer a free thinker.

My husband fought long and hard to stay alive for me and my son. He had a surgery for pain in his right arm and was transferred to a Rehab some 1 1/2 hours away from our home and we lost EVERYTHING from his very successful small business. He fought long and hard after staying in ICU for one full month and being transferred to the Rehab for six months coding 5 times at which time he was blessfully transferred to a hospital where it was found that he was not diabetic for which he was receiving insulin 2 x daily and went into kidney failure for the excessive diuretics. He came home to be told he would have to have his tracheostomy in for another six months and then coded one last time at which time it took the ambulance 1/2 hour to respond. I took a picture out our front door and there is a HUGE white orb so I know he is looking over us and I find pennies all the time and the tv shots itself off and on all the time. I don’t know how much more proof anyone needs of the other side but it is more than enough for me.

I just want say thankyou to all, for all the comments. I just hapen unpon this page today.This is the first time i have ever posted a comment in my life.I have learend something new and done something new and have been remined of something i had forgoten you are all my teachers today. I live every day with I do what i say and say what i do so thank so much

Everybody’s a teacher. Not literally, what I mean to say is that interactions with others will teach us something. All the time. Because we all act as mirrors of one another. Here’s a great teacher.
Indeed it is from within. Intuition and honesty and will to grow and accept change(s) as well as what life puts on our paths are key elements. You can always trust life, which is the ultimate teacher, to show you exactly what you need to see and experience at any given moment. Everything is, and the way I see it now is that we get to experience and feel our thoughts and beliefs system(s). So by reflecting on what your thoughts bring to you, you will start to gain clarity and awakening.
Each and every quality we each possess has a function. Embrace your intuition and your feelings. They are there to guide you. Totally. Trust them, trust yourself. Same thing. I once read somewhere that there was only one law in the universe: you become aware of whatever you put your attention on. Sounds so simple –
I think, really, simply the fact that you’re asking the question about finding a teacher begins to provide you from within with the answers you seek. And it is true, the idea that we’re each separated from others or everything around us is an illusion. A necessary illusion, not a bad one, as long as we can realize and feel the connection underneath the surface.
Read about quantum physics, healing, shamanism, past lives, psychology, philosophies, … and so many more subjects… it’s all good, all great. But stay grounded. Open and channel your connection while remaining grounded. Enjoy the ride, your life đź™‚
Love,
Dylan

Hi Jacqueline,
Thank You ….there are many teachers out there….but finding the RIGHT teachers is really , sometimes, an intuitive exercise in itself….
Blessed Be )O(…Gina Rose ext.9500
PS….You have nice, consistent ” flow of energy ” by the way….very soothing sounding energy.

Wow Gina I think you hit it right on the head, I find it so frustrating when I think I have found someone who might be like minded, someone who I can passably have a connection with, but only to find they have way to much ego, I have found that those who do struggle with the “ego complex” are most genuinely stuck, those who are not lost in themselves are those who are very open, spiritually connected, as well as extremely intuitive, I have found that those leaders are more difficult to find, but I know they are out there, I think this is where we sift through all the “Spiritual Leaders”….

One important factor I have found in selecting a spiritual teacher… is to listen to what they have to say, learn all that feels right to you….But remember they are just human still experiencing life challenges.
I have many spiritual teachers, all which I listen to what they have to share, all there wisdom and knowledge, then I meditate on it, keeping what feels right and put the rest aside…. just sift through it all.
Remember too….trust your own guides and intuition, learn all you can, go within ask if it’s correct and right add to it, make it your own, there is no one perfect teacher, don’t discredit your own intuition and knowledge, because you are always right…..
Jacqueline x9472

When the student is ready the teacher will come, and I found that my teacher came when I was in search of awakening. I was at a book store and I felt drawn to a book by Alice Bailey, little did I know she wrote 33 volumes. Her books allowed me to realize I was seeking to open my mind to understand and support. The Path is within and the Light will shine in our dark (lack of understnding) places. This lead me to understanding the Kundalini Fire which begins to stimulate the Charkas and provides doors of knowledge through self awareness. I stongly recommend meditation and study to lead you to the gifts, or pearls of awareness that Life will offer. Mother Nature will literally bloom within and the joy is expressed through your understanding. I recommend reading Djwal Kul, Intermediate Studies of the Human Aura. This will prepare you on your journey within and workings in life. Groups such as Light Bears, Poets through Meetup.com are providing the support for spiritual growth and learning you will be seeking. I was so grateful to have realized what the changes were that were going on in my life, I hope these words will find you in Light and Love aswell.
TeriLynn X9625

Hi Verbena!,.
I was so into spirit guides when i started that Yoga class,.that my instructor took me over to that mirror to make his point,.which at the time i was like,.what?
But since i can talk and work with them,.I still really enjoy that aspect of my ability.
I see our preparation before the lives we are in now as you mentioned.Lucinda is always saying to me,..”I have your chart right here”,.when were getting into some stuff.Indeed,.soul family is a great way to describe those people we love and trust enough to entrust our new lessons with.Im sure everybody on CP has big soul families and ill bet some of us are even connected.(:

hi Gina!
I love seeing Psychics as spirit guides here at our vibrational level.Im an 11 in numerology,.a spiritual messenger,.just about the same thing,.with that compulsion to keep the lines open between us and home if you will.(:
matt 5152

My first Yoga teacher had a big mirror in the entrance to his studio that said,.”your the teacher”,.and whatever someone else brings you,.you have to apply that to your natural instinct.
However,.I am,..a big fan of help from the other side,and have worked with spirit guides for years.
With access to your chart from someone that was there when you wrote it,.you can get down to why you really became you,..let the learning begin! (:

Dear Jen,
This is such an awesome question!
I wish there had been a place that I could have gone to when I first started my path…if only for recommendations of study material. The whole information highway just blows me away. These are certainly times of exponential growth! Really, how totally cool is that?
For me, I think the very first thing to realize about this question is that ultimately, one needs go nowhere other than within. For guidance, for connection, even for inspiration, truely the answers are all on the inside.
Everytime you hear a spritiual truth, your body will speak to you. Everytime you do/say something that is inspirational you will feel it inside. Why? Because, it’s already there đź™‚
That said, its easy to get sidetracked in life, so much going on…families, kids, work, and of course, romance. Its hard to find a sense of stillness inside when the outside is so filled with activity.
After all the years of study, both religious and scientific, and all the many books I’ve read, I can say that you will recognize them when they arrive… and they will always arrive, when you are ready.
They will come in many shapes and sizes. They will be disguised as a romance perhaps, or friends and family, possibly co-workers and also simple chance encounters. They will come in the form of books, films, websites and sometimes even group experiences.
Some of them will come with pleasant lessons to learn and others will come with difficulties. It is said that we dont need to experience pain for our learning, that we can choose pleasure instead.
One of my personal favorite teaching/learning tools is the book, A Course in Miracles. A channelled work by a research psychologist, Helen Schucman. http://shop.acim.org/pages/about-us
This text clearly outlines a structured path towards enlightenment. It provides a manual for teachers, a text and a workbook, all in one. Warning…this book is not for the faint of heart, lol.
As a matter of fact, the spiritual group that I have been involved with for over 15 years, came together through The Course or ACIM, as it is often referred to. Together, we have plunged the depths of this material, year after year, and we ALWAYS come away with something new and even more divine đź™‚
The Course says that we are all spiritual teachers…that we are constantly teaching by the way that we live our lives. We are either teaching what to be, or what not to be…in every moment of our existence. Gina Rose illustrated this idea perfectly with the story above, about her yoga instructor.
I also find its helpful to pay attention to coincidences…the book that falls in my lap or perhaps the television program I just happened upon.
So for me, my teachers surround me. They are my clients and my friends, they are my co-workers, my family, even my pets and all of the wild things on this beautiful planet…they are everywhere I choose to look.
And if I listen very carefully, I can sometimes hear them in the wind, or in the whisper of a child, a song on the radio or a voice out of nowhere.
Ultimately, my advice for any student is to simply be open to all of lifes expressions, follow your passions fully and your teachers will appear. Little did that yoga instructor know that a very powerful teacher of hers would be disguised as a student named Gina Rose!
With love and light,
joyce

I once signed up for a class at a little workshop/facility that involved metaphysical studies….hoping to study new techniques and laern something new. ( Remember ,I was raised by a famous psychic…but my Great Aunt had crossed over by that point.)
The very first night of the class,the lady , teaching the class dashed ( literally) in.
She was flustered, and was complaining about how rough her entire week had been….she also happened to be the owner and founder of this metaphysical ” oasis of knowledge” no less.
Her mannerisms were rough,her voice was loud and annoying, she could not even relax enough to teach different meditation techniques.
So I thought, ok…just a teacher having a bad night…..second class came and she dashes in 5 minutes late, unprepared, and jumps right
into ” teaching meditation ” techniques….same thing….talking about how frustrating her personal life was, but how great a teacher she was at the same time.
I got up, in the middle of a class of 30 people and started to walk out the door….she asked me what I was doing ? I told her I was in the wrong class, that it wasn’t for me.( I was TRYING to exit gracefully, for HER sake and mine).
She then, wrapped up in her ego,started to belittle me, telling me she wasn’t refunding my money….at that point I told her, to keep the money, but that I didn’t think I could learn from somebody who didn’t follow her own advice.
Some of her students backed her up, some of these people literally worshipped her like the coming messiah ….(I can honestly say,ever since childhood, I have NEVER let peer pressure hold me back from anything I’ve ever wanted to do )!!!
..as I was leaving,with some of the others,I could see ” the light bulb come on ” and, because ( I guess),I had also voiced what they were too afraid to say, followed me out….complaining that after 6 weeks in her class they hadn’t learned anything except the details of her hectic lifestyle.
Be true to yourself. trust YOUR own intuition…when following a
spiritual teacher ,look for somebody who ” walks the talk ” and really lives the lifestyle you seek..
IF their own lives are in disarray….that should tell you that they, themselves, ” don’t get it “.
And trust your own intuition….
..does it ” fit ” for you (?)…..do you feel comfortable (?) being in that person’s circle of energy?
Hope this helps you….
Blessed Be )O(… Gina Rose ext.9500